Penned by Aboo Aamir Ishaaq b. AbdurRaheem
In One Thousand, Three Hundred and Eighty-Eght years ago, 636CE to be precise, the Muslim army led by Khaalid b. Al-Waleed defeated the Christian army of the Byzantine Empire near Yarmouk River in Syria. That put to an end the complete Roman influence in the Christian Levant of Syria.
Prior to that, the Roman Christians, mainly of Greek descent, had been in control of the Levant (called Shaam, that was made up of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine) since 324CE. Jerusalem was the special focus of the Byzantine Empire.
As at 63BC, the Romans that were in control of Syria including Jerusalem were pagans, in the Christian sense. So the real Christian rulership in Jerusalem and its environs was actually in 324CE. Prophet Jesus was born in the era of the Pagan Romans. King Herod was the king at time.
As a matter of fact, Jerusalem had been a hotbed of crises from the time immemorial, and it had changed hands in several times.
Historically speaking, the early inhabitants of Jerusalem and the surrounding places had been the Philistines (sometimes called the Cananites), for sure, the Philistines were not Jews. They were people who migrated from present Europe namely Greece and settled in what is today known as Palestine. They were a people given to warfare.
It was Prophet David (Nabee Daawud), the father of Solomon (Nabee Sulayman), that conquered Jerusalem from the Philistines. That was about 1000BC, he therefore declared it a Kingdom of Israel. Israel was another name of Jacob (Yaqub), the grandson of Abraham (Ibrahim) in the lineage of Isaac (Is'haaq).
King Saul (referred to as Taalut in the Qur'aan) had been the King of the Tribe of Israel before King David.
The Jews were once a flavoured tribe before Allaah before they earned His Eternal anger. The Qur'aan refers to them as 'Al-Maghdoob Al-Alayhim' - those who have earned anger.
The Qur'aan talks about Saul ascension to the throne below:
Quraan 2: 246-247
'Have you not thought about the group of the Children of Israel after (the time of) Musa (Moses)? When they said to a Prophet of theirs, “Appoint for us a king and we will fight in Allah’s Way.†He said, “Would you then refrain from fighting, if fighting was prescribed for you?†They said, “Why should we not fight in Allah’s Way while we have been driven out of our homes and our children (families have been taken as captives)?†But when fighting was ordered for them, they turned away, all except a few of them. And Allah is All-Aware of the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers).
'And their Prophet (Samuel) said to them, “Indeed Allah has appointed Talut (Saul) as a king over you.†They said, “How can he be a king over us when we are better fitted than him for the kingdom, and he has not been given enough wealth.†He said: “Verily, Allah has chosen him above you and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and stature. And Allah grants His Kingdom to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower.â€
This was very much after they came out of the Wilderness where they showed a lot of disobedience to Allaah. They have a hell of trouble to Prophet Moses who liberated them from Egypt.
The Qur'aan made reference to the story of David and Goliath, who was the foremost warrior of the pagan Philistines.
'and Dawud (David) killed Jalut (Goliath), and Allah gave him [Dawud (David)] the kingdom [after the death of Talut (Saul) and Samuel] and Al-Hikmah (Prophethood), and taught him of that which He willed.' Q2: 251
All this when the Twelve Tribes of Israel were under Allaah's favour.
King Solomon buiit the Masjid al-Aqsa which the Jews refer to as the Temple. That was the First Qibla of the Muslims.
In the Islamic sense, all the Prophets in the lineage of tribes of Israel were Muslims because they all submitted to the Will of Allaah. Even the Jews that followed those Prophets at the time were all Muslims.
So before Prophet David conquered Jerusalem, the Philistines were the occupants, including the present-day Gaza, Ashkelon (where Ibn Al-Hajar al-Asqalaanee was attributed to), Ashdod, Gath and Ekron. All the cities were known as Philistia which the Greeks later came and called Palestine. The term retains its original pronunciation in Arabic as Falasteen.
After the era of Prophets David, Solomon, etc went, in Jerusalem, King Nimrod and King Nebuchadnezzar respectively, Assyrian Rulers, came and took Jerusalem back from the Jews and granted Independence to the subjugated Philistines.
The rule of the Assyrians spanned 733BC and 597BC.
During this period, the Jews were exiled to Babylon, present-day Iraq, due to their rebelliousness.
They earned Allaah's anger and were never able to rule Palestine again.
The Qur'aan talked about this in its 18th Chapter as thus:
'And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture, that indeed you would do mischief on the earth twice and you will become tyrants and extremely arrogant!
So, when the promise came for the first of the two, We sent against you slaves of Ours given to terrible warfare. They entered the very innermost parts of your homes. And it was a promise (completely) fulfilled.
Then We gave you once again, a return of victory over them. And We helped you with wealth and children and made you more numerous in man power.
(And We said): “If you do good, you do good for your ownselves, and if you do evil (you do it) against yourselves.†Then, when the second promise came to pass, (We permitted your enemies) to make your faces sorrowful and to enter the mosque (of Jerusalem) as they had entered it before, and to destroy with utter destruction all that fell in their hands.
[And We said in the Taurat (Torah)]: “It may be that your Lord may show mercy unto you, but if you return (to sins), We shall return (to Our Punishment). And We have made Hell a prison for the disbelievers.
Verily, this Qur’an guides to that which is most just and right and gives glad tidings to the believers (in the Oneness of Allah and His Messenger, Muhammad' Qur'aan 18: 4-9.
So the rightful owners of Palestine, the Philistines, were restored as vassals to the new Assyrian rulers.
Allaah said He cursed the Jews for their rebelliousness to Him after He favoured them over all the nations.
''Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Scripture? They believe in Jibt and Taghut and say to the disbelievers that they are better guided as regards the way than the believers (Muslims).
They are those whom Allah has cursed, and he whom Allah curses, you will not find for him (any) helper.' Q3: 51-52
They were so rebellious that they falsely attributed their magic to Prophet Solomon:
'And when there came to them a Messenger from Allah (i.e. Muhammad Peace be upon him ) confirming what was with them, a party of those who were given the Scripture threw away the Book of Allah behind their backs as if they did not know!
They followed what the Shayatin (devils) gave out (falsely of the magic) in the lifetime of Sulaiman (Solomon). Sulaiman did not disbelieve, but the Shayatin (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things that came down at Babylon to the two angels, Harut and Marut, but neither of these two (angels) taught anyone (such things) till they had said, “We are only for trial, so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us).â€' Quraan 2: 101-102
For the Jews to earn the favour again, they have to come to Islam:
'O Children of Israel! Remember My Favour which I bestowed upon you, and fulfill (your obligations to) My Covenant (with you) so that I fulfill (My Obligations to) your covenant (with Me), and fear none but Me.
And believe in what I have sent down (this Qur’an), confirming that which is with you, [the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)], and be not the first to disbelieve therein, and buy not with My Verses [the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)] a small price (i.e. getting a small gain by selling My Verses), and fear Me and Me Alone.' Quraan 2: 40-41
Then came the Persians in 539BC. They defeated the Babylonians with underground Jewish support from where they were scattered.
The Persians remained in control till 362BC, this saw some returns of the Jews to Palestine. Though the Persians were wary of them.
In 332BC, Alexander the Great came and conquered Jerusalem. That was the beginning of the Hellenistic Period in Palestine. It was a Greek rule. It lasted 63BC. Of course, the Philistines gained more power in Palestine.
Pompey the Great, a Roman ruler, took the city in 63BC alongside the region. By 37BC King Herod had taken over the Roman Throne, and that was the time Jesus Christ was born.
When Jesus was born, the Jews rejected him as a messiah, and called his mother a harlot. They tried conniving with the Roman rulers to get him killed but Allaah saved Prophet Jesus who himself was a Jew.
That Roman rule went on till the Romans accepted Christianity and Emperor Constantine I conquered Palestine in 324CE. That was the beginning the Byzantine Rule in Palestine.
The Church of Holy Sepulchre was buiit in 335CE in Jerusalem. The Christian rule in Jerusalem heavily suppressed the Jews.
Notably, many of the Philistines had become Christians and were ready to ensure that the Jews did not succeed in removing them from their land again. The new Christian Power was a good tool for the Philistines.
The Persians, via the Jewish machinations, tried to take over Jerusalem again in 614CE. The Persians lost.
So when the Muslims defeated the Christians at Yarmouk in 636CE, the Christian Partriachs of Jerusalem willingly surrendered the city to the Muslims. Umar b. Khattab, the Second Caliph, personally took the keys from the Christian clergymen.
The new Musilim rule granted freedom of worship to all. The Jews were allowed in Palestine as well as the Christians.
In no time, many of the Philistines became Muslims and adopted the language of the new reigning faith as their language. Those who did not want to become Muslims overtime remained as Christians. This informed the presence of Arab Christians in Palestine and the rest of Levant today.
Click HERE for part two.
